MLB All-Star Game: Rotoworld staff picks for the 2025 Midsummer Classic
Below you'll find the Rotoworld Baseball Staff's picks to start the MLB All-Star game, plus some of our favorite reserves. Everybody was asked to choose their starting position players, one starting pitcher, one reserve hitter, and one reserve starting pitcher from both the American League and National League. We tallied the votes and awarded starting spots to those who came out ahead in our mini competition, but then we also took the other hitters and starting pitchers to received votes and put them in our reserves list. Since each writer did not create a full bench, you're primarily seeing players who got starting votes, which means not every player we think deserves to be in the All-Star game will be represented below.
Also, it should go without saying, but this is just an exercise for fun. We wanted to shine some light on players who we felt had a great first half that weren't awarded the starting spot that we felt they deserved, and also salute some who were.
American League Starters
C: Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners (unanimous)
1B: Jonathan Aranda, Tampa Bay Rays
2B: Gleyber Torres, Detroit Tigers
3B: José Ramírez, Cleveland Guardians (unanimous)
SS: Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals
'Not only has Jonathan Aranda outperformed nearly every first baseman in the American League this season, but he deserves to be introduced to a wider baseball audience where he isn't a household name. I'm a firm believer that the All-Star Game needs an injection of fresh faces every summer to avoid becoming stale, and giving someone like Aranda an opportunity seems like a way to do it on the American League side, where there are plenty of established stars in the mix at each position group.' - George Bissell
'Bobby Witt Jr. had some inspired competition this year in the form of Jeremy Peña and Jacob Wilson, but I believe in voting for the best player, not just the one that had the best first three months, and the 2024 AL MVP runnerup hasn't exactly been dethroned in hitting .296/.346/.503 with 24 steals and stellar defense at short. Fortunately, all three wound up making the team anyway.' - Matthew Pouliot
OF: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees (unanimous)
OF: Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins
OF: Riley Greene, Detroit Tigers (unanimous)
DH: Brent Rooker, Athletics
'It's surprising to us that Byron Buxton wasn't named a starter since he was selected on all but one of our ballots. The 31-year-old has remained healthy in the first half and hit .270 with 20 home runs, 16 steals, and an .879 OPS while posting an Outs Above Average score of 5 in his outfield innings. He's 5th in the entire American League in WAR and trails only Aaron Judge when t comes to outfielders. He deserved to start.' - Eric Samulski
'Brent Rooker isn't as worthy of an All-Star nod this year as last, but among the players actually listed as DHs on the AL ballot -- and with Rafael Devers obviously no longer eligible -- I'd say he deserves the nod over Ryan O'Hearn and Ben Rice, in part because of his 39 homers and 165 OPS+ last season. He's been no slouch in coming in at .271/.348/.486 this season, and while O'Hearn has been a little better, his line benefits from him sitting against tough lefties.' - Matthew Pouliot
SP: Tarik Skubal (unanimous)
Reserves (others receiving starter votes, plus honorary mention starting pitchers and bench bats:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B - Toronto Blue Jays
Brandon Lowe, 2B - Tampa Bay Rays
Jeremy Peña, SS - Houston Astros
Javier Baez, 3B/SS/OF - Detroit Tigers
George Springer, OF- Toronto Blue Jays
Yandy Diaz, 1B/DH - Tampa Bay Rays
Jacob Wilson, SS - Athletics
Hunter Brown, SP - Houston Astros
Garrett Crochet, SP - Boston Red Sox
Jacob deGrom, SP - Texas Rangers
'I voted for Jeremy Peña as my starter at shortstop, and he got three votes from our group. In truth, it's a legitimate toss-up between him and Witt. Pena has the better batting average and on-base percentage, and similar slugging. His wRC+ of 145 is better than Witt's 128 mark, but Witt is the better defender. I just wanted to award a player for making a huge jump and having a career season, so I'm just happy to see that Pena makes it on our team somewhere.' - Eric Samulski
National League Starters
C: Will Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers (unanimous)
1B: Pete Alonso, New York Mets (unanimous)
2B: Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks (unanimous)
3B: Eugenio Suárez, Arizona Diamondbacks
SS: Francisco Lindor, New York Mets
'Pete Alonso has been the most impactful first baseman in all of baseball this season. He leads the position with 20 home runs, 73 RBI, and a .422 xwOBA while starting all 91 games his Mets have played. There's an argument that Michael Busch could have been the pick over him with a slightly better slash line across the board, but that would be splitting hairs. Especially after Alonso was so vital to the Mets' early-season surge while Juan Soto was still scuffling. He is the obvious pick here.' - James Schiano
'The voting for third base in the NL was the most spread out for us with five votes for Eugenio Suárez, three votes for Manny Machado, and one vote for Matt Chapman. Suárez has helped to keep the Diamondbacks afloat during the first half of the season with his monster offensive performance. His home run (28) and RBI (74) totals dwarf every other third baseman in both leagues, with Junior Caminero (21 HR, 57 RBI) the next closest. His .881 OPS paces the position league-wide as well. It's a travesty that Alec Bohm will be the National League's starting third baseman instead of Suárez, but fortunately, the 33-year-old slugger was named to the squad as a reserve, making it the first time that he has appeared in the Mid-Summer Classic since the 2018 season.' - Dave Shovein
OF: Kyle Tucker, Chicago Cubs (unanimous)
OF: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs (unanimous)
OF: James Wood, Washington Nationals
DH: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers (unanimous)
'Choosing players for the All-Star is about two things: who has played the best in the first half and who Major League Baseball wants to represent them on one of their biggest nights of the year. James Wood easily checks both boxes. His .940 OPS leads all National League outfielders by a decent margin while his 23 home runs and 67 RBI are both inside the top-three. No matter how you slice it, he's one of the premier players in this league. Add in the fact that he's doing this at 22 years old, and we could be looking at a future face of the sport. That's someone the entire country should have a chance to watch against the league's best.' - James Schiano
SP: Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies
'Zack Wheeler has never started in the All-Star Game before, despite being one of the best pitchers in baseball for the better part of the past several years. And while he doesn't match the ERA of Paul Skenes, he has the edge in terms of strikeout percentage and walk percentage. Another narrative angle to keep in mind is that Wheeler is from the Atlanta metro area, so the timing is right to give him the starting nod.' - D.J. Short
Michael Busch, 1B - Chicago Cubs
Freddie Freeman, 1B - Los Angeles Dodgers
Elly De La Cruz, SS - Cincinnati Reds
Trea Turner, SS - Philadelphia Phillies
Manny Machado, 3B - San Diego Padres
Matt Chapman, 3B - San Francisco Giants
Ronald Acuña Jr., OF - Atlanta Braves
Andy Pages, OF - Los Angeles Dodgers
Paul Skenes, SP - Pittsburgh Pirates
Cristopher Sanchez, SP - Philadelphia Phillies
MacKenzie Gore, SP - Washington Nationals
'The cosmic ideal for constructing these Midsummer Classic rosters manages to blend franchise icons with emerging superstars in a way that melds the past and present for casual fans. Voting for Manny Machado to make his seventh All-Star Game appearance just a few days after notching his 2,000th career hit seems like a no-brainer. The added dramatic tension of seeing San Diego's franchise cornerstone interact with Los Angeles' superstars throughout the event doesn't hurt either.' - George Bissell
'Andy Pages has made tremendous strides as an all-around player in his second season in the majors. The 24-year-old outfielder has been one of the leaders in the National League both in the field and at the plate, with a 128 WRC+ that ranks eighth among NL outfielders behind a .823 OPS, 17 homers, and seven steals while also ranking among the 95th percentile in Baseball Savant's Fielding Value. His overall contributions make Pages deserving of All-Star honors.' - Jorge Montanez
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